95 of 96 Individual Athletes From McLaren Report Won’t Be Charged

95 of 96 individual athletes named in the McLaren Report will not be sanctioned with anti-doping rule violations after their nations' anti-doping organizations could not find enough evidence to prove a violation.

As more and more evidence piles up to support a state-sponsored doping program within the nation of Russia, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has officially suspended the Russian Olympic Committee from the 2018 Winter Olympics while creating a strict process for allowing clean Russian athletes to compete under the Olympic banner.

We reported in October that Chinese world champs silver medalist Liu Zixuan had been suspended two years for a failed doping test, but Chinese media now report that her coach, Liu Haitao, is also being suspended.

Today, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has published new decisions from the Oswald Commission hearings, which are being conducted in the context of the Sochi 2014 forensic and analytic doping investigations.

The protection of clean athletes and the fight against doping are top priorities for the International Olympic Committee (IOC), as outlined in Olympic Agenda 2020, the IOC’s strategic roadmap for the future of the Olympic Movement.

Today, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has published new decisions from the Oswald Commission hearings, which are being conducted in the context of the Sochi 2014 forensic and analytic doping investigations.

95 of 96 individual athletes named in the McLaren Report will not be sanctioned with anti-doping rule violations after their nations’ anti-doping organizations could not find enough evidence to prove a violation.

The report implicated several athletes whom McLaren’s report suggested could have had positive tests covered up in an elaborate process of sample-switching allegedly used to protect certain athletes from failing tests. However, the New York Times report says all of the information pertaining to the named athletes was provided to “relevant Anti-Doping Organizations,” but that in 95 of the 96 cases, those authorities found that there wasn’t enough evidence to charge individual athletes with anti-doping rules violations.

There was one case where sanctions will be brought. The report doesn’t name the athlete or sport, but indicates that a re-test of samples from the Moscow lab did show the presence of a banned substance and represented enough evidence to charge the athlete.

The internal WADA report also suggests that independent federations (like FINA for swimming) could also order re-analysis of stored samples and that the IOC is doing re-testing of its own.

About Jared Anderson

Jared Anderson just can’t stay away from the pool. A competitive career of almost two decades wasn’t enough for this Minnesotan, who continues to get his daily chlorine fix. A lifelong lover of writing, Jared now combines the two passions as Senior Reporter for SwimSwam.com, covering swimming at every level.
He’s an …